


Misleading Titles

by Evilkat23



Category: Drachenreiter | Dragon Rider - Cornelia Funke
Genre: Brotherly Love, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, No pairings - Freeform, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-03-02 00:51:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2793767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilkat23/pseuds/Evilkat23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>HUMAN AU! Thanks to a project, Frederick, aka Firedrake, has to befriend and get to know a seventh grader for a month. At first his partner seems to be just a hardheaded kid, but, over time the high schooler starts to notice some questionable things from his partner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Most seniors in high school would be happy and excited about being out of class and walking away from the school, but, when you're walking away from one school yard to the middle school across the way, with the whole class full of twenty-five plus students and the teacher, it's a different story. A story that Sorrel couldn't help but complain about the whole way with her best friend, Firedrake by her side.

"This is completely stupid! Just stupid!"

"Oh, Sorrel, it's not that bad."

Sorrel gave a 'hmph' in response to Firedrake's nonchalant attitude over the assignment given to the two of them.

"Not that bad? Firedrake, they are making us watch children, Firedrake!"

Firedrake only rolled his eyes and toyed around with his dangling dragon earring as he spoke, his fingers messing around with the silver piece. He started chuckling when he could practically see steam escaping her ears.

"I think it'd be interesting," He confessed to his dark skinned friend with a smile.

"Interesting?! Firedrake, we are talking about a child here! This isn't taking care of a little plastic baby or a sack of flour, this is a living breathing child!" Sorrel yelled out, her shoulders tensed up, Firedrake gave her another eye roll and just smiled at her.

"It's only for a month, we get to pick the child we want to hang around with, and, this is better than a plastic baby or a sack of flour because we get to learn more about that who that child is." Firedrake pointed out, wagging a finger at her. Sorrel let out a low huff and put her hands on her hips.

"Whatever, I don't wanna know about some brat..." She grumbled crossing her arms, Firedrake just held her close with one arm draped around her shoulders and nudged her gently.

"They're seventh graders, not that bad."

She scoffed at him and shoved him off, and started to smooth her curly brown hair out, she then sneered and asked,

"Why seventh graders again? Why not eighth? I mean they're closer to being in high school, aren't they?" She asked, not seeing their teacher, Professor Barnabas Greenbloom walk up behind her when she asked.

"My dear, it's not about being closer to high school, I figured you'd learn that by now," The professor cut in before Firedrake had the chance to speak up, his voice caused the two of the them to jump and look at their teacher. He then gave the two of them a warm smile. "No, No, It's about getting to know the younger ones, tell them about yourselves, likes and dislikes and so on." He explained to her, Sorrel and Firedrake gave each other a look and then looked back to him.

"Uh huh, and the real reason it's seventh graders and not eighth?" Firedrake questioned, eye brow raised up, arms crossed, and his gaze questioning.

"The only eighth grade class that would do was snatched up by another teacher..." The professor confessed with a heavy sigh, he then waved them off and walked a little ways a head forward. "Doesn't matter, it's going to be fun nonetheless, now hurry along."

Sorrel gave the professor a bitter snort once his back turned, she the frowned when she noticed the middle school building getting closer. Sticking her tongue out, Sorrel turned back to Firedrake.

"I really don't want to do this, I mean, we are nothing more than babysitters now." She grunted to him, Firedrake just chuckled to her and gave her a friendly head pat.

"It won't be bad, tell you what, if you manage to pick out a kid you like and not kill him or her before the month is over, I'll go mushroom picking with you." He offered, Sorrel instantly perked up at that. Practically clapping her hands together, she asked,

"You mean it?!"

"Yes, but, you gotta do the whole project, writing and all, and don't scare the poor 7th grader." He told her firmly, she smiled broadly a big toothy grin on her face.

"Oh boy, I'm going to get twice as many mushrooms!"

Rolling his golden eyes, Firedrake tucked his hands into his pockets and stared off as he walked with the rest of the class, the middle school now just a block away as they turned into the parking lot of the building. The closer to the building they got, the more anxious Firedrake started to get.

What child would want him for a buddy? It was kind of obvious that he looked a bit intimidating, especially to children. His hair dyed a light silver color, almost to the point of being white, he had one side of his hair shaved in a typical Skrillex style cut, and as if that wasn't strange enough, add his piercings to the picture. One dangling silver dragon earring on one ear, and in the other ear he had a golden dragon earring that hugged the side of his ear. So, it wouldn't surprise him if a couple of students avoided him.

He looked over at Sorrel, she looked normal, dark skinned, a bunch of darker freckles littered her whole body, and she had light brown curly hair that bounced whenever she moved. Of course, she was probably going to have a couple of kids come up to her, she'll probably scare them off the moment too many start to crowd around her.

"Alright, single file, and please, do your best to remain quiet! Some of these classes have tests going on." Professor Greenbloom told them as they approached the middle school doors. Firedrake and Sorrel both rolled their eyes at the professor's request, like these seniors were gonna be quiet.

They entered the school, Firedrake as a little surprised how cramped the hallway seemed to be, it could hardly fit three teens side by side, it forced all of them to squish together, making Sorrel grasp on to Firedrake's arm for dear life, he could feel her claw like nails dig into his skin, but, it didn't bother him too much, Sorrel always got like this when in a crowded around other people, he was use to it by now.

After walking down the hallway of look alike doors for a few good seconds, they made it to their destination, the middle school gym. Of course, no other classroom would of been big enough for all the students. Once inside the gym, Firedrake was quiet surprised on how many middle schoolers were sitting around in the orange floored room. He was also surprised on how small they were. The tallest one couldn't be any higher than Firedrake's waist.

At the sight of the high schoolers, a lot of the preteens instantly started to run up to them, however, before anyone could formally speak to one another, a loud whistle cut through the air, signaling silence among the crowds. Everyone brought their attention to the teacher with the whistle dangling around her neck.

The teacher gave a smile at all of them and then turned to their professor.

"Barnabas, good to see you again, friend." She greeted him, they shook hands as their Professor walked up to her, she then clapped her hands together and put them on her hips, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Alright, shall we go over how this is going to go?" Barnabas suggested and the other teacher nodded at him in agreement.

"This is how it's going to go. You each get to pick one buddy, one high schooler and one middle schooler per group, no more, no less. Now, you got a month to learn everything about your partner, from their favorite color right down to their ancestry. You are going to take photos of your times together, I believe that every one of you have a list of activities that you can do with each other, you don't have to do everything on that list, but, I expect at least five things on that list done and completed, oh and one final thing. You better choose who you want to partner with wisely, because you cannot change once picked." The woman called out to everyone in the gymnasium, she was about to blow on that whistle around her neck, but, their professor cut in before she could,

"One last thing. Have fun!"

With a harsh blow of a mildly annoying whistle, everyone started to scatter and talk to one another, well, almost everyone, Sorrel and Firedrake stood there rather awkwardly, Sorrel still clinging to her friend's arm for dear life. Sorrel looked at Firedrake, her big brown eyes pleading with him, he knew she didn't want him to leave her side, but, he kinda had to for this project. He just shook his head at her and gave her a soft smile.

"I'm still going to be in the gym, Sorrel, I gotta find someone, don't worry, I won't stray too far." He said gently, as he slowly peeled her hands off of his arm. She pursed her lips in a slight pout, still, she understood and looked around for her own partner, but, she still had to say one last thing before Firedrake walked away.

"This is still stupid."

Shaking his head, Firedrake walked off, looking for someone who could be his partner in this. Seeing a group of seventh graders talking to one another, he started to walk up to them, but, when he got too close for comfort, they scattered away from him. Frowning a bit, Firedrake rubbed the back of his head and gave the gym another good look around. So far, a lot of people were already paired up and talking to one another. One kid was even bothering Sorrel.

Seeing a child seemingly walk up to him, Firedrake smiled and walked over to the child, a girl, he raised his hand in a wave and was about to introduce himself only to have the little girl swerve to the left and start chatting with a different high schooler. Making Firedrake stand there awkwardly mouth still open and hand still in the air. Finally brining his hand down, the silver haired teen shut his mouth and put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, We're missing one!...I know who's missing, Ben!" The female teacher yelled out, arms crossed, her face showing obvious frustration, Firedrake had a hunch that this Ben kid had a history of going missing during class around, Firedrake pursed his lips to the side when he saw a pair of feet sticking out from beside the pull out benches sitting against the wall. Slowly walking up to the feet, he found himself looking at a boy, it made Firedrake frown when he noticed how small this boy was compared to the other children.

The boy sat up stiffly and even backed away from Firedrake, This kid's eyes wide with a slight fear as the teenager slowly squatted down to meet the boy's eye level.

"Hey there, don't be scared, I won't hurt you," The silver haired teen calmly spoke, making sure not to frighten the kid any more than this child was. "My name is Freddrick, but, everyone just calls me Firedrake...Who are you?" He asked, having a suspicion that he already knew who this was.

The boy didn't answer right away, giving Firedrake some time to get a look at the boy's features.

This kid had black messy hair, some very pale skin, blue eyes, he looked a bit too skinny, and he looked very young, too young to be a seventh grader.

"...Go pick another kid, you don't want me." The kid spat out, his blue eyes hardening, his voice bitter towards Firedrake, it was enough to throw the teen off guard. Taking a few seconds to register what just happened, he could only shake his head and speak once again,

"Well, you see, none of the other kids want to be around me-"

"Welcome to my world." The boy grumbled out darkly, cutting Firedrake off in midsentence. He then let out a huff and sighed out. This made Firedrake frown, putting one of his hands on the floor below, he shifted so he was now sitting down in front of the child.

"I see, we already have something in common then!"

"That's not funny..." The boy mumbled, but, he did seem to relax just enough to were it was visible in his features. Swallowing a bit, he looked Firedrake up and down, his blue eyes scanning every little feature on the teen.

Smiling a bit, Firedrake scooted closer to the boy, only to have him huddle closer to the wall.

"You still haven't told me your name." Firedrake whispered to the boy, his eyes flickering up to stare up at Firedrake, he then looked away and swallowed.

"Benjamin...just call me Ben, everyone does..." Ben whispered back to Firedrake as he flicked his gaze back down to the ground. Felling his lips twitch a bit, the teen stood up and wiped his legs off.

"Well, Ben, I say me and you make a compromise, since nobody wants to talk to either of us, lets be partners for this." Firedrake suggested with a playful wink to the boy. For a moment, he thought he saw the boy's eyes light up, but, if they did, then that light quickly died. Ben then looked away and mumbled something almost inaudible,

"I mean if you want to then..."

Ben flinched when Firedrake brought his hand down for Ben to take. The flinch made the teenager frown deeply. When he realized what he's done, Ben huddled his knees up to his chest and swallowed an obvious lump in his throat. He then just shook his head and looked away, his breath soft.

"Right..." Ben breathed out and grasped Firedrake's hand, pulling the smaller kid up to his feet, Firedrake raised an eyebrow when Ben only reached up to the top of Firedrake's thigh.

"So, Ben, I noticed that you're rather...Small..." Firedrake said to Ben as they walked along the gym. He noticed a twinge of pink flood into the boy's pale cheeks and the kid pouted a bit at that.

"That's because, Benjamin is super smart, that's why," The female teacher cut in from behind, causing the two of them to jump and turn. The beside the teacher was Firedrake's own professor, she gave everyone a smile and continued, "Benjamin is really suppose to be in fifth grade at his age, he's proven to be smart enough for the eighth grade, but the school wouldn't allow him to skip that far ahead, so he got placed here with my class." She said brightly, beaming happily as she said that. Professor Greenbloom looked at Ben up and down.

"My, my, aren't you a lucky boy." Banarbas said to Ben, the boy just looked away, but said nothing in reply. The teacher just smiled once again, and then spoke to Ben, leaning down so she's face to face with him. Firedrake didn't like that, the way she was leaning down, it was almost insultive to the boy.

"Why don't you go and sit over there, I need to talk to your partner real quick." She said, tilting her head towards the bleacher. Ben gave her a dark glare as he sulked away as the teacher asked. Once out of earshot, she turned and gave Firedrake a slight scowl. "Ok, I'm going to be real honest here, Benjamin is rather smart-"

"Rather smart? My dear, if he's really suppose to be in eighth grade while being...how old is he nine? ten? then he's almost a down right genus!" The professor exclaimed loudly, his eyebrows up in surprise at the female teacher next to him.

"Well, it doesn't change the fact that you might not want him for a partner," She said, earning surprised looks from both Firedrake and the professor, she put her hands up quick and spoke up before either of them could speak, "Now, let me explain...Benjamin is rather...Problematic."

"How so?" Firedrake challenged her as he looked over the lonely boy sitting over by himself on a bleacher.

"Well...He's known for often times snapping at people who try to get too close to him, a reason why he's often so alone, if anybody tries to befriend him, he pushes them away, understand, if you be partners with him, it'd be disastrous, I can't see it ending well, I know it's rather mean of me to say this, but, pick someone else."

Looking back to the teacher, Firedrake's eyes flicked over to his professor, he had a very obvious frown of disapproval on his face. Firedrake found a frown tugging at the corners of his lips as well, he then remembered what the professor had said early that day, and shook his head from side to side.

"No, I'm not, because it's not just about the project, it's about learning about one another and making friends along the way. You should of seen it, when I told him I'd be his partner, he looked happy for a brief second. I'm not just going to bail on him because you say he's problematic, so what if he is? If he wants me as his partner, then, I'll happily do it." Firedrake told her firmly, the professor gave Firedrake a warm smile in the end of what he said. The female teacher pursed her lips a bit and then shrugged.

"Alright, but, I did warn you." As all she said in the end and then stalked off, once gone, the professor lightly slapped the teen on the back with a warm smile.

"I know you'll make a perfect partner to Ben. Oh, Looks like Sorrel has her own partner as well, I got to see this." Without another word, the professor walked off and Firedrake looked back at Ben. He was still just sitting there, looking down at his hands.

Firedrake just scoffed to himself, how problematic could this kid be? Nah, this project was going to be a breeze. Just wait.


	2. Chapter 2

"Look at him, he thinks he's so cool, make him go back into his actual grade."

"Little freak. Her derrrr I'm so smart just because I skipped two grades. What person does that?"

"I've seen his partner for the project, fits that freak to a T, he looked so odd."

Ben frowned deeply and glanced down at his lunch tray, tugging down on his long sleeves, he bit his lip and tried his best to hold in the tears that started to collect and blur his vision. Swallowing hard, the boy shut his eyes and gave his head a quick shake from side to side. He held his breath and slowly stood up from his seat.

"Fucking freak, just because his dad is rich he thinks he's so cool."

Without saying anything, Ben scurried away towards the bathrooms, once in the restroom, Benjamin sniffled a bit and wiped his eyes on his sleeves, turning the water on he cupped his hands underneath the tap and waited as the water collected in his hands, once enough water was in his hands, he splashed the water on his face. Cringing a bit at the coldness of the water the boy jumped up when he heard the sound of a stall opening. Looking down at the sink, refusing to make eye contact with the stranger.

"Here."

A squeaky male voice said to him as a tissue came into his eyesight. Looking up at the owner of the tissue, Ben frowned when he saw that this guy seemed to be in the same problem as Ben, his bright red hair messed up, his eyes slightly puffy the left eye sporting a rather bad black eye, while his long nose looked to be broken just a bit, nothing that won't heal over time. He also showed some clear signs of crying. Gently taking the tissue, Ben dabbed his misty eyes.

"Thanks..."

This teenager gave Ben a soft smile and extended his hand for a handshake.

"Twigleg!" He said happily, Ben gave the guy a strange look as well as a questioning eyebrow. "O-Oh! My real name is Tyler, but, I've pretty much been called Twigleg since I could walk." The guy explained his cheeks growing slightly red as scratched the back of his head.

"Oh...Ben..." He greeted, cautiously taking Twigleg's hand, once they finished their handshake, Twigleg jumped up and sat down on one of the sinks, making Ben take a slight step back.

"Middle school sucks, doesn't it?" Twigleg asked with a sigh as he kicked his legs absent mindedly, When Ben didn't reply, Twigleg spoke again, "I mean, everyone is just so angry and judgmental and they think they know everything, well let me tell you this, they do not! I would say high schoolers are better, but, they aren't either..."

"I...I should go...Thanks for the tissue." Ben mumbled and quickly scurried away.

"Oh...You're welcome..." He heard Twigleg say, obviously a bit downhearted as the boy left.

Ben shuffled out of the cafeteria all together, even though it wasn't allowed for students to leave the cafeteria building, he did so anyway, he didn't care if he got caught, he just wanted away from any and all other students for the remaining ten minutes for lunch. He knew where he was going to go. It was obvious, even the teachers patrolling around knew where he was going and they didn't care. They just seem to conveniently look the other way when he passes them.

He wasn't complaining, he knew that almost all of the adults in the school pitied him for his loneliness around the school, it was pretty apparent. Walking to his sanctuary, Ben opened the door and was met with air conditioning, followed by the librarian's soft voice.

"Hello, Benjamin, kids giving you a rough time again?" The woman asked him as he shyly approached the desk, all he could do was just nod to her and she gave him a sad smile and sighed out softly. "I really shouldn't let you stay in here again, but, just put the book back when you're done." She told him that sad smile turning into a smirk as she turned and started to type away on her computer.

Ben made his way to the back of the library, crouching down in front of the bottom row of books, he hummed softly as he looked for his book. Finding it, he pulled it out and looked at it. It was placed in the fantasy section, in Ben's eyes it wasn't a fantasy book, it was real. A book on all the mythical creatures ever recorded in history. He was about halfway through it, the only time he ever gets to read this book were the times he hides out in the library, which didn't give him much time. Ben would love to check the book out, but, his father would lose his mind if he saw this book in Ben's bag. Plus, Ben didn't even have a locker or anywhere else to hide it, no, he just had to settle with the way it was for the time being.

Taking a seat on one of the stiff arm chairs, Ben quickly started up where he left off last time. On the Dragon page. Crossing one leg over the other, he rested the book on his knee and started to read about the dragons seen and recorded.

**It was rumored in the late fifteenth century that dragons would walk in human form, often luring woman and children to their nests for their feeding.**

Ben scoffed a bit as he read that small passage, you think a dragon in human skin would be a bit noticeable, even for those ages. Then again, what did he know? He wasn't around for that time. Sighing out, he continued to read on.

**People were always cautious when going around caves in those times, in fear that the dragon would snatch them away. Being unwilling to take the risks, the people would often dress in animal furs and walk on their hands and knees pretending to be that animal, hoping that the dragon would not spot them.**

Pursing his lips, Ben just snorted bitterly, man, people were really gullible back then if they thought that dragons didn't attack animals as well as humans. Resting his head on his arm, he continued to silently read until the bell rang out overhead. Shutting the book, Ben got up and placed it back on the lonely bottom shelf.

"Good bye, Benjamin, see you tomorrow." The library called out as he left the room, waving to her, he slowly made his way out of the library and to his classroom. Lumbering inside the room, he gave the teacher a slight wave as he walked inside the classroom, at least there was only three hours left till it was time to leave, though, that didn't give him much comfort either. Sitting down in his seat, that was of course in the front of the class, Ben frowned and scratched at his wrist, his breathing starting to get heavy as he thought of returning home. He gave his head a slight shake, it didn't matter, he had a plan and it was almost complete.

He just needed to tough it out for a month or two...Then...He would be free...


	3. Chapter 3

Firedrake gave out a soft hum as he went over the list in front of him. The said list were things that him and his partner should do together. Lots of things to do for the month, it almost made him chuckle because almost all of these things were things that people do on a date.  
  
Go to the movies together.  
  
Have dinner at one or the others house.  
  
Go shopping, be it window or actual shopping.  
  
Play video or board games together.  
  
Visit each other in their class, must have parents and teachers signature to do so.  
  
Go for a bike ride in the park, or just visit the park, either one is fine.  
  
There were a lot more, some making Firedrake raise an eyebrow at some of the suggestions, not only were some of these kinda lame, and on top of it, you had to take pictures and write about it all in a composition notebook, and then, after you were done writing, you had to re write it all in a binder and add the pictures in the end. So much work and so little time. That was school life for you.  
  
Humming again, he toyed around with his silver dragon earring as he grabbed the instructions once again, rereading on what to do and how to do it.  
  
"You gonna tell me about your partner or what?" Sorrel demanded as she came from behind her friend and sat down next to him at their normal cafeteria table.  
  
"Only if you tell me about yours." Firedrake responded not looking up from the instruction papers. Sorrel huffed and put her feet up on the table, showing off her not so girly workers boots as she did so.  
  
"His name is...Something Asian like, he told me to call him Burr-Burr-Chan or something like that." She puffed her cheeks out as she explained as she looked down at her nails.  
  
"Burr-Burr-Chan, huh?" Firedrake asked with an eyebrow raise as he turned towards his friend.  
  
"Yeah, it's odd, he's like me, you know, dark skinned and light haired, but, he's clearly Asian oriented. What's even weirder than that, he wears these extremely baggy hoodies, I swear he's hiding like two extra arms in those hoodies of his." She sighed and leaned back a bit in her seat. "Now, you're kid, what's the four-one-one on him?"  
  
"Nothing yet, I only met him two days ago...But, from what I see, he's more to himself, young, he's nine or ten years old-"  
  
"Eh? That's fifth grade age right there!"  
  
"He's really smart, got bumped up two grades...According to the teacher he's 'problematic' but, I don't see it. I mean, you should of seen it, when I asked him to be partners his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree-"  
  
"OH, CHRISTMAS! Do we have to spend Christmas with these children?!" She yelled out as the realization that Christmas and this project fall on the same month. Firedrake chuckled softly and looked at her, leaning his head on his hand as he shook his head,  
  
"I don't think we have to spend Christmas, but, I'm sure you might get brownie points for giving them a present."  
  
"Mmmm" Sorrel gave a slight pout and bit down on her tongue. "All this is making me hungry, I need a snack, I'll be back." She grumbled and got up from the table. Firedrake just rolled his eyes and started to put his papers away into his bag.  
  
"Hm, if it isn't Firelame." Came a familiar rough edge voice, making Firedrake just slowly groan out, oh, he knew that voice alright.  
  
"Ned." Firedrake responded, a smirk on his lips, knowing full well that there was about to be an explosion in about three seconds. Sure enough, there was, the other teenager slammed his fist down on the table.  
  
"It's Nettlebrand."  
  
Looking up at Nettlebrand, Firedrake snorted and just shook his head. Nettlebrand, a rather bulky Hispanic student, almost everything about this guy was gold themed. Golden blonde hair, practically golden skin, he even had a gold front tooth, he use to have two, but, one went missing a few years back, it's rumored that he's still looking for it, the only thing not golden were his eyes. No, he had these contacts in that made his eyes a deep red. Nettlebrand was, as mentioned, pretty bulky, that of course being him being on the school's swim team, scratch that, he wasn't just on it, he was the captain of the swim team, best of the best, nobody could out swim him. Still, that didn't make him intimidating to Firedrake.  
  
"What?" Firedrake asked finally with a slight growl in his throat.  
  
"Hostile aren't we? I just wanted to ask how your project was coming along, You know, I got a little dweeb as well, yep, our teacher was cool enough to get the eighth grade class." Nettlebrand bragged with a happy smirk on his face. Firedrake just rolled his eyes and sighed out, he felt sorry for that poor eight grader who got paired with Nettlebrand.  
  
"Good for you." The silver haired boy mumbled, continuing to put his stuff away in his bag.  
  
"So, who'd you get? Hm? Some lame thumbsucker I bet."  
  
Grinding his teeth in slight irritation, Firedrake responded back, obviously showing off to Nettlebrand.  
  
"No. In fact I got the genius of the school to be my partner."  
  
"HA! Genius of the school huh? Please, You're going to sit there and tell me that my partner, who is an eight grader, is dumber than yours, who is a grade lower?" Nettlebrand challenged, hand on his hip. Firedrake gave out a soft snort, he shouldn't let this guy get him so worked up, but, it's a little hard to not get worked up, especially with that stupid cocky attitude of his. Standing up, Firedrake gave Nettlebrand a harsh poke to the chest.  
  
"Look, I'm not getting into a dick measuring contest with you over this, just shove off, will you?"  
  
"Heh, right, So, tell me more about this Genius? Does he have a photographic memory like my partner?" Nettlebrand prodded once Firedrake sat down, causing the silver haired boy to glare at him.  
  
"Again, I'm not getting into a dick contest with you." Firedrake snorted. Nettlebrand just retorted back with an equal snort.  
  
"Right, So you got the dumb kid then. Gotcha. Oh look at that, my homework is here, see ya. EY! Gravelbeard!"  
  
Firedrake watched as Nettlebrand walked off, calling the dwarf student towards him.  
  
'Poor, Gravelbeard.' Firedrake thought as the golden haired student demanded some homework papers from Gravelbreard.  
  
"I don't know why there aren't just mushrooms for the lunch, I'd eat a tray of them, not this goop," Sorrel snarked from behind Firedrake, causing him to jump up in slight surprise, he didn't even hear her come up to him. She took her seat and looked over at Nettlebrand who was still harassing Gravelbeard, her nose scrunched up in distaste. "What did that sod want? I saw him talking to you."  
  
Shaking his head, Firedrake just let out a sigh of bitterness and replied,  
  
"He just wanted to show off, as he normally does."  
  
Sorrel frowned and stuck her tongue out at Nettlebrand while his back was turned to her. Next thing Firedrake knew, she was making faces at him, from pulling her eye lids down, to bringing her hands up to her head to wiggling her fingers and blowing a low raspberry at him. It all made Firedrake chuckle at her, she was such a child sometimes. Once she finished making faces, she went to eating her lunch, complaining about it with each bite she took.  
  
After a while, the bell rang and it was time to go back to class, Getting up, both him and Sorrel walked out of the cafeteria bags slung over their shoulders. While walking, Firedrake gave a soft frown to himself, it's been three days since the he picked Ben for his partner, and he had yet to do anything with him, he should go and see him soon, but when? When was the best time to even talk to the seventh grader? Bringing his hand up to his chin, Firedrake stroked his jawline with his thumb as he thought.  
  
 _'Don't the high and middle schools get out at the same time? hm, if I'm quick then maybe I could catch him when he walks out...Oh, but does he walk, car ride, or take the bus home?"_ His frown deepened at the thought, he could break it off in two ways, if he doesn't come out of one door, then, He'll most likely walk out of the other. Of course, doing that would be a two day process if he gets it wrong.  
  
Getting to his classroom, Sorrel right behind him, he threw his bag on his desk and plopped down, only thing on his mind being,  
  
 _'Why the hell didn't I ask him how he gets home? Because, that would makes too easy...Great. Just Great.'_


	4. Chapter 4

The familiar chime of the ending bell rang aloud over the middle schoolers heads, telling them that school was now over. As all the students ran out at speeds that would make the flash jealous, Ben stayed behind, slowly lumbering all of his stuff neatly into his book bag. He always took his time when it came to leaving the school. It meant less time at home, then again, it also meant more time at school. Neither of those sounded very pleasant to the ten year old. Finally zipping up his bag, he swung it over his shoulder and headed out of the class room. Giving the teacher a wave goodbye, Ben made his way out of the school.

He had to walk home today, some days his mother would pick him up and drive him home, but not often. His father didn't want him to be lazy, so, Ben had to walk two miles to get home, which really wasn't too bad...In the winter, during the summer it was pretty horrendous. Still, he couldn't complain. Because, complaining was bad and often leads to some unpleasant things happening. He gave his head a good shake and walked out of the school doors. However, not even five steps away from the building, his backpack was snatched, it wasn't taken from his shoulder, but, it did cause him to halt so suddenly that he gasped out in surprise.

"Well, Well, if it isn't little Billy." A middle schooler sneered at Ben, his pug like face scrunched up in disgust as he darkly growled at the black haired boy.

"My name is Ben," The ten year old growled back, slapping the twelve year olds hand off of his backpack. The bully looked a bit stunned at first, then narrowed his beady blue eyes. With an angry growl, the seventh grader grabbed Ben by the collar of his blue hoodie and lifted the kid off of the ground. His feet no longer touching the ground, Ben kicked the air and grasped the bully's wrists.

"I don't think you know your place in this school, you may be in seventh grade, but, you have the age of a thumbsucking fifth grader, and I think, you need to know just where-"

Before the bully could finish, a hand touched his shoulder, causing the two of them to look up at the owner of the hand. Ben eyes softened with relief when he saw a teacher behind the bully.

"Put him down." The teacher said to the bully, her voice calm but very unnerving. Slowly, the teen put Ben back down on the ground, once on the ground, Ben rubbed his neck while glaring at the guy. "Now, come with me." She said to the bully and lead him back inside the school. Ben could only snort in response to it all. Typical day, not like the guy was going to learn anything from this trip to the office, probably get a slap on a wrist then he'd be free to go. Just like all the others who chose to pick on him, they'd get caught, go to the office, within an hour or two they're back to picking a fight with him once again.

With a heavy sigh, Ben turned away from the school and started to walk his way home. Sticking his hands in his pockets, Ben kept his focus on side walk, he didn't want to think too much on it right now. He was tired and just wanted to go home and lay down for a while, he could feel a headache springing on. Bringing his hand up to his face, Ben slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose. After a good second of rubbing his bridge, he looked back to the side walk and lightly sighed out.

Walking passed a couple of houses, he always looked over at them, looking at the inside from the window as he passed them. Normally he'd just see an empty living room or dinning room when he walked, but, on the occasion he'll see a family or couple sitting down, all happily chatting to one another. It always made him a twinge jealous whenever he saw that, his family wasn't like that, not by a long shot.

He would say his family as a mess, but, with the control his father has over everyone, that'd be a lie. His father, Johnathan, liked to have a very tight grip on everyone, not one person could even so much of think of free will in that household!

Pursing his lips to the side, Ben gave a stray rock a good kick and watched it skip away from him.

It could always be worse though, Ben had no right to complain, he had a roof over his head and food in his stomach at night. Still a little be of freedom would be nice. He frowned deeply when he looked through a window as he walked, a family of three sitting in the living room watching some animated movie. He looked down at the side walk and tugged a bit at his sleeves. He wouldn't mind that, him, is father, his little brother, and mother all sitting down just watching a movie together, but, he knew that it would never happen. Movies where only for 'special' occasions. A lot of good things seem to be for 'special' occasions.

Seeing another rock, he gave it a kick and, like before, watched it bounce away, this one couldn't keep a straight line and curved off of the side walk and into the road.

No longer wanting to look at buildings, Ben looked up at the sky, it wasn't a bad day out, a bit chilly, but aside from that it was pretty nice. Not a cloud in the sky, the bright sun beaming down on him, not roasting him alive like in the warmer months. Still, even with the nice weather, he'd like to be home now. He could feel his head throb painfully the longer he stayed out here.

Looking straight a head once more, Ben gave out a low sigh, it'd be another hour before he'd get home. He just had to put his mind to something else, make the time go quicker. Putting his hand to his head, he gave out a low soft groan, stupid headache was really getting worse. Speeding up his pace, Ben just wanted to get home and rest.

Ignoring anything that could distract and delay his way home, he made it there in almost thirty minutes.

Walking up the driveway, he paused to looked at the house. The house he has lived in since he could crawl. Still, he felt no love for this house. At all. The brick exterior, the red front door, the many windows, no, there was no love for this house in his heart. It all felt too cold for him. Moving his gaze down, the ten year old padded up to the door and walked inside the house.

The first thing to greet him was a blast of heat, almost instantly making him uncomfortable. Placing his bag on the floor, Ben shed his hoodie off and hung it on the hooks where his mother's and brother's jackets hung as well.

"Benny!"

Before he could react, he was instantly tackled by his younger brother.

"Hey Chris." Ben greeted and hugged his brother back.

Christopher, his younger brother, they looked a lot a like, both had the same black hair, though Christopher's was more unkempt than Ben's, they also had the same nose and pale skin. They had a few differences as well, his brother had dark freckles running across his face and had green eyes where Ben had blue.

Reaching down to grab his backpack, Christopher got the hint and let go from Ben's waist.

"How was school? Was it fun?" His brother asked excitedly, following Ben up the stairs to his room.

"It's was alright, nothing too interesting happened." Ben mumbled in response to his brother. Christopher smiled, showing a gap where one of his front teeth should be, it shouldn't be too long before the tooth grows back. Making it too his room, with his brother in tow behind him. Throwing his bag to the floor, Ben jumped into bed and cuddled up with his pillow. Instantly, his brother's smile dropped.

"You're going to take a nap?" Christopher asked nervously, visibly shifting and twitching around as if Ben was doing something bad.

"I have a headache, Chris, I just need to lay down for a little while." Ben mumbled into his pillow, his voice muffled a bit.

"...You seem to have a headache everyday now..." Christopher pointed out as he sat at the foot of Ben's bed. Sleepily looking up at his brother, Ben reached over and swept some of his brother's hair out of his face and hummed out a bit.

"Just let me nap for an hour or two, and then me and you can play whatever you want." He promised his little brother, Christopher gave out a frown, worry on his face.

"It's not that, Benny, you know dad will lose his mind if he finds you napping. Why do you have to pick fights with him?" Christopher asked, almost pleading with his brother.

Ben sighed out a bit and leaned up on his elbow.

"...I know he'll be mad, but, I got two hours before he gets home, I'm going to set this alarm for an hour and thirty minutes, see?" Reaching over to his alarm clock, he set the alarm for an hour and a half later, turned it on. "and he'll never know." Ben finished, putting his alarm back down on the nightstand.

Christopher frowned a bit more, but, he said nothing, instead, he stood up from his brother's bed and just sort of looked at Ben.

"If you say so..." Was all he said to Ben, he then turned and walked out without another word, shutting Ben's door behind him. Resting his head against his pillow, Ben shut his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. Hoping his headache would be gone by the time he woke up.

Ben breathed out loudly as the loud buzzing of his alarm clock rang out. Letting out a shuttered breath, Ben opened his eyes only to shut them just as quickly. His headache was not better, if anything, it's gotten worse. The beeping wasn't helping either. With his eyes still shut, he reached over and started slapping at where he hopped the alarm clock was. Missing it the first few times, he finally hit the right button and the infernal beeping stopped. Groaning loudly, Ben put his hands to his head. He didn't mean to fall back asleep, but, his mind just slowly shifted away and that was the end of that.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!"

His father's booming voice was enough to make Ben bolt up, despise the fact that his head was still pounding away. His father gave Ben an angry glare, his blue eyes hard with slight anger.

"Well?!" He demanded to Ben, in the back, Ben could see Christopher clutching on to their mother's leg for dear life.

"I have a headache-" Ben started but was cut off by his father.

"Bullshit! That's just an excuse you use every time I catch you being lazy!" Johnathan screamed out, getting closer to Ben. Ben started to grind his teeth in anger, before he knew it, he was yelling back.

"What's the big deal?! I did all my homework, I'm doing great in school, Why can't a take a nap when I need one!"

His father's eyes narrowed deadly and next thing Ben knew, his dad was right in front of his face, shouting furiously back at him.

"You think you need a nap!? Do you work to provide for us?! NO! I DO! IF ANYONE IN THIS HOUSE NEEDS TO SLEEP FOR LONGER, IT'S ME! What do you do? You go to school!"

Shutting his eyes, Ben wanted to yell back at his father, he wanted to prove that his father didn't know everything. However, when he reopened his eyes and saw his brother shaking as he clung to their mother, he decided against it.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't of took a nap." He lied to his father, biting back his tongue.

"You're damn right I'm right! You know what? You can add cleaning the kitchen and living room to your list of chores for after dinner. I hope that nap was worth it." His father growled and then stormed out, Ben could only look down at his shoes and mumble,

"Yes sir..."

Johnathan then slammed Ben's door shut behind him. Once Ben knew he was in the clear, he jumped from his bed. Walking to his closet, he squeezed himself into the tight space, making sure to shut the door behind him. Once all the way in the darkened corner, where a lone backpack laid, he grabbed the bag and laid against the wall, allowing the bag to sit in his lap.

The bag was kind of empty, except for one pocket, a hidden pocket that rested on the bottom of the bag. Inside that hidden pocket was over twenty dollars in quarters and dollar bills. Money he's been saving for his plan. He still needs a bit more money, just a little bit more...

He couldn't stay here, he just couldn't...


	5. Chapter 5

If Firedrake had any idea on what he wanted to do on a perfectly beautiful Friday afternoon, waiting outside of a middle school wasn't on his list. Resting against a light pole close to the entrance, the teenager gave out a low sigh as the final middle school bell chimed out. Within seconds the outside was swarming with middle schools racing to get home. Keeping an eye out for a tiny seventh grader, his golden eyes scanned around, once a majority of the children cleared out, Firedrake breathed out a bit, hoping he didn't miss Ben, everyone was rushing by so fast...

After a couple more minutes of waiting, and watching the few stragglers hang around waiting for their parents to pick them up, he finally saw Ben walking out of the building. The small boy wearing the same hoodie as before, Ben looked up from the ground and saw Firedrake. The silver haired teen instantly noticed how Ben's eyes started to shine the moment he saw Firedrake. The boy ran forward and stopped right in front of his partner, he then proceeded to stand there awkwardly shifting back and forth on the balls and heels of his feet. Firedrake gave off a slight chuckle, and smiled at Ben, finally breaking the ice,

"Ben, I thought maybe me you can do something for today, or tomorrow, whichever works for you," Firedrake shrugged as he rubbed the back of his head. He noticed the big frown on Ben's face, the boy then looked down.

"I'd have to ask..." Ben mumbled, the last part of his sentence inaudible. It made the teen tilt his head as he looked at Ben.

'He has to ask...his...father? Did he say dad?' Firedrake thought as Ben focused more on his dirty shoes than his partner. 'Well, I should ask instead of standing here like a doofus.'

"Sorry, I didn't hear you properly. Did you say you have to talk to your dad first?" Firedrake asked softly as he slowly crouched down to Ben's level. Ben gave off a weak nod as he refused to look Firedrake in the eyes, in fact, to the teen it seemed that he was going to great lengths to avoid Firedrake's gaze. This was enough to make Firedrake frown visibly. Still, without looking at Firedrake, Ben spoke up.

"He's...He's a bit particular about who I hang around with."

Nodding, Firedrake instantly understood, people did tend to have a problem with his appearance.

"Meaning that I don't fit his description?"

"Meaning nobody does. My father doesn't want me hanging around anyone. Period, end of story." Ben spat out a bit, his tone deadly, like before, it threw Firedrake way off guard. Blinking a bit in surprise, Firedrake collected himself and sighed out gently,

"Well, if you tell him it's for a project, I'm sure he'll listen."

Ben finally looked Firedrake in the eyes, his blue eyes somewhat dull, as if he knows what's going to happen.

"You can try, but, my father is rather...hardheaded." Ben muttered darkly, keeping his eyes locked on his partner. Slowly standing up, Firedrake grunted as his muscles stretched out. Being a good foot taller than Benjamin, he towered over the boy, Firedrake's long shadow casted over him, forcing Ben to crane his neck up to fully see the teens face. Firedrake then smiled, his smile genuine and warming, something, Ben hasn't seen in sometime. It was enough to make him frown and look away from Firedrake.

Dropping the smile, Firedrake coughed, then he started to lead Ben to his car parked not too far away. Looking over at his truck, Firedrake practically sighed with happiness, the truck was a 1998 silver Silverado truck, it was old, but it ran real well, getting to their respected sides on the truck, Firedrake paused, leaned on the bed of the truck and started up the conversation once more,

"So, where can I talk to your father? Home? Work?" He asked Ben, the boy gnawed nervously on his bottom lip and looked down at is fingernails. Shaking a bit, Ben breathed out and looked up at Firedrake.

"It's Friday so...He should be at home, he has half days at work on Fridays." The black haired boy explained, pulling on his index finger out of nervousness. That made Firedrake smile again.

"Alright then, how about I drive you home then? Where do you live?"

"I..." He mumbled softly, looking away and biting at his thumb nail. Once he got the nail halfway off, Firedrake put his hand on Ben's shoulder, stopping him.

"Why don't you show me then? If you are uncomfortable giving your address. Can you do that?" Firedrake asked Ben softly, he soon realized that it almost sounded like he was talking to a kindergartener than a seventh grader, Ben took instant notice and gave Firedrake a look of ridicule and then facepalmed.

"Freddrick, I know I'm young, but for the love of god, I'm not that young," Ben told him, once more throwing the poor high schooler off guard with the use of his actual name. "What? You didn't think I forgot your actual name did you? Besides," Ben paused and finally opened his door, getting inside the truck, doing the same, Firedrake got into the driver's side and, as he put the keys in the ignition, Ben finished his sentence. "You're going to need to get use to it when talking to my father, none of that 'Firedrake' shtick around him. He'll kick you out before you can say anything else."

With a nod, Firedrake backed out of the school parking lot and made his way towards where Ben pointed to go. Once going a nice speed, he looked over at Ben and pursed his lips.

"Anything else?" He asked the boy, Ben looked at him, his eyes scanning Firedrake's everything. The boy then started to look around the truck till finally, he found something, A plain black beanie. Firedrake knew instantly that the beanie was Sorrel's his friend having a bad habit of leaving her clothes in his truck.

"Wear this. cover that hair cut and color. He'll think you're a delinquent or something. Also, the earrings, sorry, they gotta go off for a bit." Ben told him, this all made Firedrake frown, still, when he reached a stop sign, he complied.

Starting with the golden dragon hugging the outside of his ear, he slowly undid the dragon and, rather painfully, dropped it into the cup holder. He then pulled the dangling silver dragon from his other ear and placed it next to the golden one. His ears instantly felt naked and cold from the missing metal. Once out, he started to drive once more, listening to Ben's instructions. After about five more minutes of instructions and driving, Firedrake couldn't help but notice one thing,

"You live kinda far...You walk home?"

Ben definitely tensed up at that, breathing a bit heavily, the boy gave off another weak nod.

"Y-Yeah...Turn right after this stop sign, first big house on the left is where I live." Ben mumbled, wringing out the beanie in his small hands.

"Huh, I thought you never get sun light, given your complexion that is." The teen teased, nudging Ben a bit playfully, Ben didn't respond, he just gave his head a shake.

Pulling into the driveway, Firedrake parked the car and turned the engine off. The house was nice, very nice. He blinked in surprise when the black beanie was suddenly, and rather violently, tossed into his lap. He turned to Ben, about to ask what that was about, but the boy opened the door and slammed it shut before the teen could say anything to him.

Once more, Firedrake could only blink in surprise, did he say something to make Ben mad? Shoving the beanie on his head, hiding his hair color and cut successfully. Getting out, he followed Ben to the door.

Firedrake said nothing, he could only watch the boy walk in front of him. The kid's walk a little stiff, but it didn't indicate that Ben was actually mad. Before he could evaluate Ben anymore, they stopped in front of the door, Ben looked Firedrake up and down. Again, nothing showed that Ben was mad, not even his eyes.

"Alright, remember, you'll be called Freddrick, be polite, and...don't let him get to you." Ben finished, opening the door, they walked inside, Firedrake almost whistled but stopped himself, it was a pretty nice home. Feeling like he was walking on eggshells, Firedrake made sure he didn't touch anything by keeping in the middle of the floor.

"Benny!"

Shocked by the voice, Firedrake whipped around trying to decide where the little kid's voice came from. However, he soon saw the kid himself as someone practically launched themselves onto Ben, almost toppling his partner on to the ground.

"Oof! Hey Chris." Ben greeted, voice strained, he didn't seem surprised by the tackle hug, then again, Firedrake was sure he was expecting it.

"You're home early! Wha-..." Chris stopped in mid sentence when he finally noticed Firedrake, the teen towering over him, like with Ben, his long shadow fell on top of the even smaller boy. Obviously intimidated, Chris hid behind Ben, clutching at his brother's hood, almost bringing Ben down to the ground with the sudden pull on the hood. Gasping out, Ben's hands went to his collar, the fabric pressing uncomfortably against his neck.

"Christopher. Let go. Let me explain who he is." Ben spoke, his voice strained heavily from his collar still against his neck.

"Yes, Benjamin, please, Explain who this complete and utter stranger is. Why is he in my home?"

Firedrake almost gave himself a whiplash he turned his head so fast towards the mysterious males voice, not expecting it at all. They locked eyes, Firedrakes golden eyes looking into, who he presumes is, Ben's father's blue eyes. Regaining himself, Firedrake walked forward, hand extended.

"Hello, you must be Ben's father, My name is Freddrick, I'm your son's partner." Firedrake introduced himself, hand still out for a handshake, and a wide smile on his face. The man gave Firedrake a slightly confused look, it seemed like he was trying to remember something. Finally, he slowly reached out and shook Firedrake's hand, gripping the teen's hand hard enough for Firedrake to flinch.

"Johnathan." He answered, giving Firedrake a rather incredulous look as they continued to shake hands, till finally, Firedrake was the first to let go. Rubbing his, now sore, hand behind his back, the teen gave Ben's father a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you. I see where Ben gets most of his looks from now," Firedrake complimented, he was met with immediate disdain.

"First of all, we do not shorten our names in this household, Benjamin knows this but refuses to comply, secondly, I don't like the idea of an adult hanging around my child, school project or not, and one final thing, I don't like hats in my house either." Johnathan rebuked at Firedrake, this man's need and want for control was beyond obvious. Swallowing hard, Firedrake knew the moment this guy saw his hair cut it was going to be all over.

"W-Well sir-"

"He likes the hat. I've never seen him without it, you can't just ask him to take it off." Ben lied so effortlessly, Ignoring his father's angry glare clearly telling his son to back off. Chris also gave Ben a look to back off, not angry but worried.

"Alright then, tell me, Freddrick, What exactly is it you want?" Johnathan inquired.

Looking at Ben's father, Firedrake breathed out and decided to just tell the truth.

"I want to take Ben out." He said with a shrug, instantly, he regretted his wording, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ben facepalming and shaking his head.

"Pardon?" Johnathan growled out, standing up more straighter and staring Firedrake in the eyes. Firedrake had to give this guy credit, he has the intimidation factor on par.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I would like to take Ben...Places, for the project that is." He said correcting his mistake from a moment ago. That did seem to make Ben's father visibly relax.

"Places? What kind of places?" The demand was obvious in Johnathan's voice.

Thinking carefully on what would make the man in front of him happy. Biting a bit on his lip, he spoke on just what he hoped would satisfy the adult.

"The park, the state park that is, Yeah, I believe Ben said something about liking animals, I would also like to take him to the local library, I know it's not too exciting, but, the selection of books would be more widely extent than his normal library, oh! and the museum of myths! I also have my house in mind, meet my family..." Firedrake breathed heavily, his heart beating so strongly in his chest that he could actually feel it.

Johnathan let out a soft curious hum and sat down on a plush chair. Putting his finger to his chin, he seemed to be thinking, at least, Firedrake hoped so. Finally after a couple minutes, the man leaned in from the chair and smiled, the smiled seemed promising. Firedrake gave Ben a quick glance, just to see his facial expression on this, it wasn't a happy one, neither was his brothers. Turning back to Johnathan, the teen waited for a couple more seconds for the man's response.

It was not what Firedrake wanted to hear.

"No."


	6. Chapter 6

"N-No?" Firedrake stuttered on his question, just plan out confused. He turned his head to look at Ben, his brother finally off of him, but was still clinging for dear life at Ben's hand. Ben on the other hand didn't seem to upset or mad, if anything he looked a bit intrigued. He then turned to stare Firedrake in the eyes, eyebrow raised up obviously trying to silently tell Firedrake something. 

Johnathan stood from his chair and brushed his legs off, an apparent smirk on his face, a smirk that sent shivers down Firedrake's long spine.

"Well... Maybe we could reach an agreement?" Johnathan suggested to Firedrake, the smirk never leaving his mouth. The teen crossed his arms in an unease fashion and looked back at Ben, hoping for some sort of advice, but, he still got that intriguing look on his face with his eyebrow arched up.

"What kind of agreement?" Firedrake finally asked looking back towards Johnathan.

"The museum of Mythology, and your home, I want out," The man stated bluntly, staring Firedrake dead in the eyes. That was enough to cause the teenager to open and close his mouth obviously thinking of the right protest to say. After a couple of seconds Firedrake spoke his voice filled with uncertainty,

"The museum of Myths? Why that? I mean, I understand my house...somewhat..."

"Mythology! Not Myths. And, I don't want my son's head filled with lies. Also, just so we are clear on this as well, you will not take him to any restaurants of any sorts either." Johnathan clarified, his whole attitude about this made Firedrake realize that Ben's father didn't care about Ben's wants at all. Licking his lips, the teen turned back towards Ben, the boy now looking away from his father, a bit of defeat and anger in his eyes. Looking over at the adult male, Firedrake felt something rise up in him, he wasn't sure what it was, but, it felt strong.

"...Ok, I can deal with that. Also, if for any other reason you want to take my boy places, you come to me first," Johnathan finished a certain edge to his voice, reminding Firedrake that he was in charge. "Now, what day do you wish to start on this?"

"Well, sir, I was hoping tonight, if that's not too much." Firedrake answered, grinding at his teeth in slight anger, something about Johnathan was making Firedrake feel rebellious, something he hasn't felt in years.

"It is short notice-"

"It's the only time I have off at the moment!" Firedrake cut Johnathan off, almost barking but luckily stopping himself. 

"I see...Well, I guess I can make an exception this once. Go on then." He waved them off and without another word he finally left the room. Once he was gone, Firedrake turned to Ben, who seemed to be trying to pry his brother off of his arm. Chris wasn't giving up without a fight though, having his older brother in a tight knit hug, arms interlocked around Ben's waist. Ben tried the normal approach by trying to push his younger brother away, but, that kid seemed to have a grip of iron. Finally, Ben gave up on pushing his brother jammed his fingers into Chris's side just a couple inches above his waist.

Instantly, his little brother started to squirm and laugh as Ben tickled him mercifully, an almost evil laugh left Ben's mouth as he managed to push his brother to the ground and continue to tickle him. Firedrake could only chuckle as Ben was now on top of squirming brother his hands moving at the speed of the light tickling his brother in every which place he could. Finally, it ended when Christopher managed to kick Ben off.

"Oof! Careful." Ben groaned, rubbing his stomach where his brother kicked him. Instantly the smaller boy looked guilty, his green eyes wide with worry. Walking over to Ben, Firedrake offered his partner a hand up, much to his surprise, Ben ignored Firedrakes hand and got up on his own accord. As Ben dusted himself off, Christ slowly stood up, his eyes shifting to the teenager, looking Firedrake up and down. Feeling a bit awkward at the stare, Firedrake spoke up,

"So, Ben, should we hit the road?" Firedrake asked, pointing his thumb towards the front door. Chris frowned deeply when Ben nodded.

"Yeah, we should," Benjamin answered and walked up to Firedrake, for a moment the teenager thought that Chris was going to run after his brother, but, Chris stayed put. "I'll be back, Chris, I promise." Ben said to his brother, a gentle smile on his face, Then, he walked towards the door, following the boy's lead, Firedrake gave Chris one last nod. Then walked out with Ben.

They walked in silence towards his truck, silently got inside the said truck, and Firedrake drove off. They drove on for a while, when Firedrake reached the first stop sign, he broke the ice that surrounded the two of them,

"So, I was thinking," The teen started, pausing momentarily to drive forward once it was clear. He could feel Ben stare at him as he continued his sentence, "....You want to go to....McDonalds or something?"

"My dad said no restaurants." Ben replied flatly.

Anxiously licking his lips, Firedrake kept his gaze on the road when he continued the conversation,

"Well...Tell me...Have you ever been to a restaurant of any sort?" He asked Ben already knowing the answer. There was a bit of silence, out of the corner of Firedrake's eye, he could see Ben picking nervously at his finger nails.

"No. Dad doesn't allow it." Ben spoke finally.

"Would you like to go to one?"

"....We shouldn't..."

"And? How's he gonna know? We'll eat before we go to the park or whatever, and then I can bring you home within a couple of hours and he won't know, it's just a fast food joint, not like you're gonna be tubby from one burger now." Firedrake laughed a bit, giving Ben a slightly playful nudge.

Ben became visibly tense after that, but still, he gave Firedrake a meek little nod and said he wouldn't mind it. It didn't take too long to make their way to the fast food place. When they got there, Ben seemed to be gawking at everything, just generally surprised at it all. He looked at everything he could inside McDonalds, his head whipping around every which way as he tried to absorb everything at once.

This made Firedrake chuckle warmly at the boy, sometimes he had trouble remembering that Ben was in fact still just a boy, he acted so much like an adult with the monotone voice and the way he acted.

'It's almost as if his father is making him act like an adult....Cutting out anything that gives him any sort of imagination.' Firedrake thought as he watched Ben lean far up on the counter so he could use his arms and upper body strength to take his feet off of the ground and into the air. The smile on the boy's face was enough to light up an entire city. Realizing that Firedrake was watching him, Ben dropped back to the floor and the smile vanished in the blink of an eye.

They ordered their food, a burger and fries for Firedrake and just chicken nuggets for Ben. Firedrake offered to pay for a full meal for the kid, but, was, naturally, turned down. Ben just simply stated that he needed to eat small so when he gets home and eats dinner he wouldn't be full. Which was pretty smart, then again, this kid was very smart.

"I love the moon," Firedrake said out of nowhere, making Ben look at him, his head tilted to the side, obviously confused. "What about you? What do you like?" The teen asked, earing the pursed lips to the side silent response from Ben. When the boy didn't answer after a couple seconds, Firedrake spoke again,

"Ok, how about if I tell you why I love the moon?" He inquired, that got a soft nod from Ben and Firedrake continued, "I love the moon because in a way, it gives me energy, makes me feel refreshed and not only that, but, it's very pretty look at in the dark of the night." He finished. What Ben said next kind of threw Firedrake off, not that it was harsh like the other times, but the context of it was just out of left field.

"Like a dragon?"

That made Firedrake raise his eyebrow slightly, but, Ben ignored it and continued on.

"You know that in some mythologies dragons are known to feed off of moonlight? Who knows, maybe in your past life, you were once a dragon." Ben teased playfully, a small smile on his lips. He then took the final bite of his last nugget and clapped his hands together, trying to get the excess crumbs off his hands.

"Huh, I didn't know you liked myths," Firedrake admitted, taking a bite out of his burger. "You just don't seem like the type." He muttered putting his hand politely putting his hand to his mouth, as he spoke with a full mouth.

"I like Mythology, Myths are a whole other field, so please, stop calling it that." Ben told him, sounding a bit more like his father now only more polite.

"Hm, that would explain why your father practically tore my head off earlier."

"Don't take it personally, Firedrake, he rips everyone heads off if he doesn't like something."

Finishing off the rest of his food, Firedrake threw away the trash along with Ben and they walked out. Making their way towards the Silverado, Ben shivered a bit as a cold breeze past them by. Looking down at the kid, Firedrake saw that Ben, though wearing a hoodie seemed cold. Without thinking, Firedrake shifted out of his black coat and draped it over Ben's shoulder's.

"Huh...Oh...Thanks." Ben mumbled as he wiggled his arms into the arm holes, of course, Firedrake being a walking beanpole compared to Ben's child stoutness made the jacket over ten times bigger on Ben, his fingers not even reaching the ends of the jacket.

"Ok, well, we have a lot of time on our hands, what should we do now?" Firedrake asked Ben, he got a smile in return.

"How about the library?"

"The library? Why there?"

"Because, what better place to learn about one another than a library, besides, there's something I want to show you there...."


	7. Chapter 7

Firedrake laughed quietly as he watched Ben came around to their table at the library, a giant book in his hands, it looked like it was putting a lot of strain on the boy. Ben then proceeded to drop the book right in front of Firedrake, the book making a very loud thump on the table. Of course that earned the two of them several harsh 'Shhhh's!' from the people around them in response. Ben didn't really seem too fazed by the angry voices, he took his seat next to the teen and sighed out.

Looking at the cover the best he could, Firedrake could see a bunch of strange creatures on the cover, one of which he was sure was a unicorn.

"Sorry about that, this library is a bit different from my school library, but all the same they have the same books here." Ben huffed out a bit, Firedrake reached over and dragged the book across the table so it was in front of him. Getting a better look at the cover now, he realized that the creatures that littered the cover where those of mythical beings, he was right about the unicorn, but, next to it was obviously a dragon, a phoenix flying above a bunch of other creatures, some Firedrake knew others not so much.

"This is a pretty big book, Ben. Don't kids you're age read picture books or something?" Firedrake teased as he used his thumb to feel all the pages in the middle of the shut book. That earned him a harsh snort in response.

"I outgrew picture books in the second grade. Along with everyone else. I'm ten, not seven...Also you know I'm in the seventh grade, why would you ask that?"

"It was just a rhetorical question. So, what exactly did you want to show me?" Firedrake asked, trying to change the subject quickly, his face heating up from slight embarrassment. Ben just shook his head and took the book back, he then proceeded to flip quickly through the pages, he was moving so fast through the pages that it almost impressed the teen. Within a couple of seconds Ben found the page he wanted and pushed it towards Firedrake.

"I finished this section just yesterday, I'm not asking you to read it all, but, just read this little part, right here." He urged Firedrake, pushing the book back towards the teen, finger on a certain portion on the page. Looking down on the page, Firedrake almost chuckled when he realized that this section of the book was most certainly about dragons. Putting on a smile for Ben, he looked down to where Ben's finger was placed, he raised an eyebrow at the piece. It seemed to be talking about different kinds of dragons that were recorded, and Ben had his finger placed on a certain type it seemed.

Silver Dragons

A bit intrigued by this, Firedrake started to read the sadly small paragraph, at first, there wasn't much interesting on the species, something about how they were rumored to be living in the Himalayas and that their fire could heal, then, it got interesting.

These dragons were known for living on solely on the moonlight, without the moon they could not fly and would eventually die of starvation, rumors say that they may even become stone figures without flying for a long time.

"Interesting, right?" Ben asked him, a smile on his face.

"Very...Huh, who knew?"

The two of them smiled a bit at one another, Firedrake thoroughly impressed.

"My, My, I never thought I'd see you in here, Freddrick," Professor Greenbloom's voice rang over to the teen, causing Firedrake to turn and look at his teacher steadily approaching the two of them. "Oh, and you have Benjamin with you. How lovely, I see you two are working on the project then... is this book what I think it is?" The professor finished with a question, sounding astonished at the book as he picked it up to look at the cover.

"You like books on mythical creatures?" Ben sounded completely surprised as he asked that question, his eyes growing wide.

"Of course I do! Who doesn't like fabulous creatures? Oh, and you're on dragons? Dragons are my favorite creatures to study." The professor confessed, making Ben smile broadly.

"Mine too!" Ben yelled out without thinking, once he got several loud 'shhh's' from the other people, he covered his mouth and turned red with obvious embarrassment.

"So, Professor, what are you doing here?" Firedrake asked, putting one of his hands on Ben's shoulder, giving him a comforting pat. Barnabas chuckled a bit and took a seat next to Ben, who's face was no longer red, but a soft pink color.

"I'm here with my family, oh look, there's my daughter right now," The professor pointed out, causing both Ben and Firedrake to turn towards his daughter. The moment Ben saw her, his face flared up once again and he vigorously puts his head down on the table, Firedrake was sure Ben hit his head on the table when he did that, he then hid his face in his arms.

Firedrake and the professor both looked at him, both a bit boggled at the boy's sudden reaction. Firedrake then realized just what might of sparked the reaction, turning back to the professor's daughter, who didn't notice them at all and seemed to be searching for a book, he looked down at Ben who still had his head in his arms on the table. It didn't seem to take the professor long to put two and two together either.

"Huh, first time I've ever seen that kind of reaction before," The professor said as he toyed around with the book a bit, turning the page. "Oh, Benjamin, aren't you in for a treat, the next thing you'd be learning about are homunculi." He spoke up towards Ben, nudging him a bit getting him to left his head up.

Firedrake almost wanted to laugh, but he bit down on his tongue. Poor Ben, his face was not only a very bright red color, but he also had a dull purplish color on his forehead where he smacked it down on the table.

"Homunculi? What are those?" Ben whispered in an ask, his voice almost sounded a bit fearful.

The professor smiled and started to explain to Ben, while he was talking to the boy, Firedrake turned back to where the professor daughter was, but she was gone. Frowning a bit, he looked around the library a bit more, hoping to see her, unfortunately, he had no avail. Turning back to Ben and the professor. Barnabas was still explaining homunculi to Ben.

"And, that's what they are." The professor finished, a wide smile on his face. Ben seemed to have simmered down and his face looking normal and no longer resembling a beet, though, he still had the purple mark on his head. Firedrake felt his phone go off in his back pocket and dug it out, taking it out of sleep mode, he instantly forgot about whatever message he just got when he saw the time.

"Ben, we have to bring you home soon, your dad will have my head." Firedrake almost yelled out as he urgently stood up from his seat. Ben gave off a very noticeable frown, but, he stood up nonetheless. The professor smiled one last time and got to his feet, grabbing Ben's book as he did so. Stroking the spine of the book, the professor ushered it towards Ben.

"Here you go." Barnabas said to Ben, going to give it back to him, Ben took it happily, holding it against his chest with a smile on his face, Firedrake quickly noticed that the smile was forced. Nothing about that smile was genuine.

"Alright, It was nice seeing you prof. I'll be seeing you on Monday, C'mon Ben." Firedrake smiled and started to lead Ben out of the library, stopping only when Ben took an unexpected right turn into an aisle of books. Watching him, Firedrake realized that the kid was just putting away the book. Not even ten seconds later, he was back at Firedrake's side. After a couple more seconds of them walking towards the teen's truck, Ben spoke up,

"I had fun. Thanks for taking me out!" He yelled out, making Firedrake blush with embarrassment as a couple of people passing by game them an odd judgmental look.

"Ok, first, lets not call it that, it sounds like we are...Doing something that shouldn't be done between people of our age difference, and second, no problem, I had fun as well, maybe next time we can go somewhere more fun, just between you and me." Firedrake whispered, giving Ben a slight wink. That earned the teenager a soft smile, unlike the last one, this one wasn't forced.

"I'd like that..."


	8. Chapter 8

"Ok, here we are..." Firedrake breathed out as he pulled up to Ben's home. Ben showed no emotion as he looked up at the house, he then nodded.

"Thank you, I really had fun...I'll see you around, oh, and Firedrake?" Ben asked turning to his partner, Firedrake could only tilt his head and nod a bit telling Ben to continue. The boy reached up and took the hat off of Firedrake's head and gave him a soft smile. "I like you better without the hat."

For a couple of seconds there was no noise, then simultaneously the two of them chuckled softly, Firedrake then gently took the hat back.

"I was thinking if maybe one day you would like to do a double team?" Firedrake asked as he placed the hat on the dashboard. Ben started to play around with his own fingers, lightly peeling the nail away. Firedrake could see Ben grinding his teeth a bit.

"I...don't know, You see I...I don't-" Ben started but was cut off by a rather unexpected knock on Ben's side window, causing both to jump and turn, upon seeing Ben's father standing there, looking both stern and important, it was enough to cause the boy to quickly try to find the handle and open the door. "Anyway, thanks Freddrick, I had fun, see you!" He called out, shutting the door behind him. It happened so fast that it made Firedrake blink in surprise, he then waved awkwardly as the two of them walked away. The teen took notice of the rather tight grip Johnathan had on Ben's upper arm. Shaking his head, Firedrake proceeded to drive away, not seeing as Ben's father practically threw his son inside the house.

The rough toss was enough to cause Ben to fall to the floor. Scrambling up as fast as he could, Ben turned and his faced his father, Ben's breathing already quickening and his heart beating harder in his chest. Johnathan calmly shut the door behind him and then looked at his son. For a couple of heartbeats, nobody spoke, Ben swallowed hard as his dad started to walk towards him.

"So, where did you go? Hm?" Johnathan asked, circling Ben like a shark would circle around it's prey, it was enough to make Ben feel very uneasy.

"Just to the library-" Ben tried to calmly explain only to get cut off rather quickly by a harsh laugh.

"Heh, why? Don't only smart people go to those kinds of places? Last I checked neither you or him were smart." Johnathan taunted harshly. Ben licked his lips anxiously, knowing that the next thing he was going to say next would make or break the situation at hand.

"It was something you gave him the ok to do, and it was the closest, we hardly had fun." Ben lied to his father, hoping that Johnathan might not see through it.

"Really now? Because if I recall from two minutes ago you told Freddrick you had fun." Johnathan called his son out as he crossed his arms. Ben looked down, his mind now reeling with things to say, he jumped when he felt his father lightly tap his chin and force his head up to stare into his fathers cold eyes.

"I just said that to spare his feelings. Truth be told, he's kind of a boring fellow." The boy breathed out, Johnathan let out a soft hum, then let go of Ben of chin. Silently breathing out a bit of relief, Ben relaxed just a bit.

"So you lied to him?" Johnathan turned around, his voice deep and angry, making Ben tense up again. "Lied to your own partner? God, you know you are just despicable!"

Feeling his breath get caught in his throat, Ben shook his head, obviously trying to think of a way out of this. Seeing his son shake his head, his father gave Ben a harsh poke to the chest, getting into his face.

"Either you're lying to me or you're lying to him! Or knowing you, you're lying to both of us, that's all you are isn't it!? a no good liar!" His father screamed in Ben's face. Freezing in a blind panic, Ben had no idea what to do next.

"I...I..." Ben whimpered out no longer able to think properly. Knowing that no matter what he said next was just going to bite him, he decided the best option was to keep quiet.

"Well? Answer me!"

After a couple more seconds of silence, Johnathan grabbed Ben's arm, rather harshly, and pulled the boy forward with a dark growl.

"Dammit, Benjamin! YOU WILL ANSWER ME WHEN I ASK YOU A QUESTION!" Johnathan roared in Ben's face, his father's face turning a nasty shade of red as his anger flamed higher and higher. Ben shut his eyes and just looked away, not wanting to be here right now. When Ben still didn't answer, Johnathan had enough.

"Fine, I see then." Ben's father said in an unusually calm voice, almost pushing Ben down as he let go. Then the most surprising thing happened, Johnathan just walked away. Nothing else was said, he just walked off, the problem was, he was walking upstairs towards Ben's room. It almost tempted Ben to speak up, but, his fear still gripping his throat tight, he could only slowly follow his father up the stairs to his bedroom.

As his dad walked inside his room, Ben felt his heart start to thud painfully in his chest. Then, with no warning, his father grabbed his arm once more, yanked him inside the room and quickly walked out, slamming the door shut behind him. At first Ben didn't understand until he heard the sound of the lock clicking from the other side.

"NO!" Ben screamed rushing to his door. Grabbing a hold of the handle, he tired to turn the knob but it refused to move. How could of not seen this coming?! Slapping his hand against the wooden door, he whimpered out and dropped to his knees. He hated being locked in his room, it was the fact that he was, in a sense, grounded, it was the fact that he couldn't leave and was trapped within these walls, with no way out. What makes it worse, his father likes to turn the power off on the occasion, leaving Ben trapped in the dark. Sure enough, mere minutes later, the light to his room went out. Whimpering, Ben lightly fell to his knees and gave the door a pitiful slap.

"Please...Not again..." He wheezed out and rested his head against the door squeezing his eyes shut, Ben sobbed softly. After a while he calmed down enough to stop himself from crying, and he just sat there, with his head against the wooden door. For hours on end, he sat there and didn't move. He knew that if he just kept his head against the door, then whatever was in the dark couldn't get him.

For the dark, was Ben's greatest fear.


	9. Chapter 9

Twitching.

Ben's hand is constantly twitching, it was becoming rather aggravating seeing how he was in the middle of class. Well, more distracting than aggravating, as he stared at the palm of his right hand, he watched as his hand gave a slightly violent twitch and then go limp. Breathing out heavily, Ben looked back up at the teacher and furrowed his brow when his hand twitched once more. Every other second it was doing this. It wasn't right, truth be told, he was feeling rather nervous about it.

Looking around nervously, Ben felt his collar dig a bit uncomfortably into his neck, breathing heavily, the boy licked his lips nervously.

"I have to say, I am very disappointed you guys," The teacher started making everyone looked up and quiet down, "Most of you did poorly on our last test... Only one of you got an A. Congrats Ben, you got a ninety percent." The teacher smiled as she handed him his test back. Two things happened at once, all the students turned to glare at him and his heart plummeted into the pit of his stomach.

'A ninety? Oh, my dad is going to have my hide for sure!' He thought panic stricken, his hand still twitching violently, bringing both hands up to his face, Ben shuddered out a small breath, this was the last thing he needed right now. Slowly bringing his hands down, he realized the students were still all glaring at him. Saying nothing, he just shook his head and stood up from his seat.

"May I go to the restroom?" He asked the teacher, she gave him a dismissive nod as she handed out the rest of the tests to the students around. Not waiting another second, Ben strutted out of the room, leaving his test on his desk. Putting both hands into his jean pockets, Ben bit down on his lip and stared down at the ground. He started to stagger towards the wall until he realized that he had stopped walking and was pressed up against the brick wall.

'I'm so stupid! I might as well of failed that test. I don't want to...I can't do anything right...' Breathing heavily Ben pressed his head against the cold brick wall and shut his eyes. He then took both of his hands and started to light rub his twitching hand.

"Hm? Ben? Right?"

A familiar high pitched nasally voice came from around the corner, turning around, Ben saw a familiar student walking up to him. A bright smile on this kid's face. At first it took Ben a moment to actually recognize him, then he remembered this was Tyler!

"Tyler?" Ben asked once the taller student was close enough. If it was possible the kid was smiling even brighter than before.

"Hey, you remembered my actual name, but, just call me Twigleg, everyone does....Are you alright?" Twigleg asked, tilting his head to the side. Ben quickly gave a fake nod and just pretended to shrug it off.

"It's fine really, I'm just having a bit of a rough day." Ben lied with a heavy sigh. Twigleg responded to the lie with a purse of the lips. Then, almost as if a light came over his head, the teen smiled again as he thought of an idea.

"Hey, I was thinking, lunch is after this class, so, how about you come and sit with me and my brothers? I mean, from what I've seen you seem to sit alone all the time," Twigleg smiled happily, Ben on the other hand was not smiling, if anything he seemed suspicious. Sensing that his idea wasn't so welcoming to the smaller boy, Twigleg bit down on his lower lip. "Well, I mean, you don't have to, it was just really a suggestion, you just looked lonely. Me and my brothers sit around table seven." Twigleg finished.

"Uh...I'll think about it, I really need to," Ben paused briefly to walk around the taller student, keeping his eyes on Twigleg as he started to back towards his class room. "Need back to class." He continued with a small wave goodbye, he turned around and started back to his class.

"Ok...OH! You can't miss us! We have all have crazy hair!" Twigleg yelled after Ben.

Taking in a deep breath, Ben walked back to class, once inside, he ignored his fellow peer's glares and sat down at his desk. Looking back down at his disappointing test, Ben could only pick it up and stuff it in his bag. The teacher was droning on about the newest subject, he wasn't listening though, he couldn't bring himself to listen.

Soon the bell for lunch rang, Ben was the first to get up and rush out.

Sighing out, Ben walked into the cafeteria only to pause and look around. Counting down the tables, he found table seven, and he had to say, Twigleg was right, you really couldn't miss it, they all had wacky hair colors. Holding his breath, Ben gulped and started to shakily walk towards the table. Who knows maybe these guys might just be his first real friends. As he got closer, he counted all of the brother's he could see, not counting Twigleg, he counted three.

Before he knew it, he was shaking with both anticipation and anxiety, biting down on his lips he got close enough to where Twigleg could see him. The moment he was spotted by the redhead, he was met with a bright smile. The taller student practically jumped out of his seat and ran up to Ben.

"I knew you would come! Come on! I wanna show you my brothers!" Twigleg said excitedly as he proceeded to drag Ben towards the table.

"Heh." Was all that could leave Ben's mouth as he was tugged at the table. Then he was pushed down by the shoulders, all eyes on him, Ben did his best to smile genuinely at the people staring at him.

"Twiggy? Who is this? He seems rather...young?" The first brother asked.

He, like Twigleg, was pretty tall, but that's where the similarities end. This guy's hair was a deep blue color and slicked back into a ponytail, his eyes, where also blue not as blue as his hair, but still a nice color. His nose as pretty small as well and his build wasn't as lanky as Twiglegs.

"Oh, Ben, Walter, also known as Watereyes! He's just a grade below myself, I'm a bit surprised you two don't know each other." Twigleg introduced the two, Shakily, Ben shook hands with Watereyes, he was met with a rather tight grip in return.

"Oh right. I've heard of you." Watereyes responded rather coldly to Ben, all the boy could do was just nod.

"Ben, these two across from us are the twins, The one with green hair is Stanly, also known as Stemarms, and the one with pink hair is Peter also called Petalears. They're in the sixth grade," Twigleg finished, putting a hand on Ben's back, causing the black haired boy to flinch a bit. "Know, I know what you must be thinking, what strange names these people have. Well, let me just say, we didn't pick them. Our father has a...Thing with calling all of his children strange names." The eight grader tried to explain, it was still rather odd.

Stemarms and Petalears both just looked at each other and then back to Ben, He had to admit, they looked almost identical if it wasn't for the hair color. Both had round pale green eyes and roundish noses, not at all like Twigleg's long nose. They weren't tall, but, they weren't short either, obviously still going through the first stages of puberty. Something Ben still knows little about.

"...All of his children?" Was all Ben could say, that made Twigleg smile even brighter.

"Yes, I have twelve siblings."

If Ben would of done a spit take if he had a drink with him. All he could do was just stutter,

"T-Twelve...Well..."

Watereyes gave out a bitter scoff and just crossed his eyes, feeling unwelcomed, Ben shifted a bit in his seat next to Twigleg, he would of gotten up, but the older student still had his hand on Ben's back.

"Oh look, the lines have simmered down, C'mon Ben, let's go and get some food." Twigleg happily clapped, he was obviously feeling the tension coming from the table as he started to drag Ben towards the food line. Once far away from the table, Twigleg spoke with a sincere voice. "Hey, Don't take Watereyes too personally, he just...he's difficult..."

"It's fine, I've met with worse." Ben said as he gave it a simple shrug off. Twigleg didn't seem so impressed, but, he didn't really bug on it either.

As they stood in line to get their food, Ben felt a strange sensation. He never felt this way before, looking over at Twigleg, who smiled at him in return, Ben realized that maybe he was feeling the start of something he never really felt before now. Something that felt genuine and not at all forced by some project.

Friendship


	10. Chapter 10

Firedrake turned his head over to Sorrel as professor Greenbloom continued to speak on about the glories of something, he couldn't really remember at this point. The professor was a nice enough teacher, hell he might even be Firedrake's favorite, but, there are times where professor Greenbloom just drones on and on and on and on. This was one of those times. As he looked at his best friend, he could tell that she was already gone, looking at the teacher with deadpan eyes, head rested on the open palm on one of her hands, and a long string of drool just leaving her mouth and landing in the already made puddle below on the desk.

Snorting out, Firedrake just slouched down in his chair, and looked up at the clock on the wall. thirty minutes left of class, great. Rubbing his eyes, Firedrake sighed out heavily, drowning the professor's ramblings out, Firedrake started to think about Ben.

'I need to hang out with him again...we have two days left of school, then two weeks off for winter break. Then the project is due, damn I really don't have a lot of time. Maybe I'll visit his house again tonight and see if maybe, just maybe his father would be nice enough to let me take him to a show.' Firedrake thought, he then rolled his eyes in disbelief, 'Like he would let Ben do anything fun, poor kid...' Looking down at his nails, the teen started to chip at them. 'He seems so controlling towards Ben, it almost isn't right, I can't really do much of anything though, it's not abuse it's just a controlling man...'

Firedrake looked up at the professor, the man still going on about whatever, like anyone was listening anymore, literally nobody else in the class seemed to be listening. Rubbing his eyes once again, Firedrake blinked as the bell above head rang out. Several students practically ran out of the classroom, wanting to be away from the professor's rambles.

"Man, I think that was the first time I ever fell asleep with my eyes open." Sorrel groaned out as she stretched her arms above her head. Firedrake looked over towards the professor, a question tugging at his mind that maybe the professor could answer.

"Yeah, I noticed." Firedrake chuckled as the two of them walked out of the classroom. Sorrel stretched her arms above her head once again.

"I have to hang out with Burr-Burr Chan tonight, you know, that kid is starting to grow on me, he likes mushrooms as much as I do! We're going mushroom hunting tonight. What about you and Benny? Any more riveting plans? You gonna go and hang out at the old folks home, or ohhhh how about the museum of myths? That sounds so exciting." She said sarcastically ending it with a snort and an obnoxious laugh, nothing good ever comes out of telling your best friend your adventures.

"Ok, One, it the museum of Mythology, not myths, and two," He paused to look at her, her eyebrow's raised up, waiting for his comeback. Breathing out, he growled a bit and relaxed, "His father doesn't want him to go to the museum." He mumbled in defeat.

"What?! I mean, I'm bot fond of museums, but, who doesn't want their child going to one? that's some serious BS right there." She huffed out angrily, Firedrake could just shake his head.

"His father is...not normal. It's like he doesn't want Ben to be a kid, I'm even starting to question if it was Ben's decision to go into seventh or his father's decision." Firedrake admitted with a slight sigh.

"Eh, I'm sure its nothing." Sorrel said with a shrug, obviously wanting a subject change. Sure enough, seconds later, she did change the subject "You wanna go with me and Burr-Burr-Chan? We could use a third person, and you do own me some mushroom hunting time, don't forget that." She told him, giving him a slight shove.

They walked out of the school and towards the cars, Firedrake shook his head at her.

"No, I don't know why but, I want to go and check up on Ben." He told her and she shrugged in response.

"Suit yourself, but you still owe me a mushroom hunt."

Firedrake made it to his truck and the two of them said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Getting into his truck, he didn't turn his truck on at first, no first thing he did was grab Sorrel's winter hat and put it on and he took his earrings out and into the nearest cup holder. Once his hair was hidden and he looked somewhat presentable, he started the truck up and went to Ben's home.

Luckily he remembered where Ben lived, it wasn't too far away and, as if luck was on his side, he hit all green lights on the way there. Seeing the big house, Firedrake parallel parked necked to the curb and got out of the truck. Licking his lips, Firedrake got out of the truck and slowly breathed out, trying to calm his anxious nerves. Clenching his fists, the teenager slowly walked up to the front door. Straightening his shirt out a bit, he went to knock on the door, but, he paused when heard Ben's father on the other side of the door. Though muffled, it was not only still very audible, but beyond loud. He was sure even the neighbors could hear this man.

"YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A PIECE OF USELESS TRASH! YOU KNOW THAT! A FAILURE! THAT'S ALL YOU'LL EVER BE!"

Ben's father paused and a voice spoke up, it was a lot more quieter than Johnathan's, so quiet that Firedrake couldn't even hear what the other voice even said, but it was met with something unmistakable, the sound of someone getting slapped and it was followed by Johnathan's loud voice again.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME BENJAMIN!"

Firedrake's eyes widened instantly, for a brief moment, he wanted to kick down the door and confront Ben's father himself, but, he couldn't bring himself to do it, something was stopping him.

"JUST GO TO YOUR ROOM! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU!"

Narrowing his eyes, Firedrake growled and slowly backed away from the door, he then shook his head and turned back to his truck. Yanking the hat off his head, the teenager snarled angrily, oh, Ben's father was going to get what's coming to him, that's for damn sure.

Nobody messes with Firedrake's friends. Ben was no exception, Firedrake didn't know him too well, but that didn't mean he wasn't a friend. If anything, it pissed Firedrake even more off.

Johnathan wasn't going to get away with this. That was something Firedrake could promise with all his heart.


	11. Chapter 11

Ben looked up at the full moon from his window, the dark of the night making the moon even more predominate, his eyes went from the moon to the ground outside, dark and bleak, but not incredibly hard to see. Moving his eyes from the outside to the glass of the window, he looked at his reflection the best he could. Ben could just barely make out the faint outline of an oncoming bruise on his cheek bone. Bringing his fingers up to touch the sensitive skin, he hissed out in pain when he brushed the tips of his fingers against the bruise.

Frowning heavily, Ben tiredly rubbed his eyes. His father struck him, as in he actually hit Ben right across the face. All because of a stupid ninety percent, that and he had the 'audacity', as his father put it, to speak up against his father's mad rants. This was the first time that his father hit him, and it was going to be the last.

Jumping off his bed, he made his way towards his closet and snatched the backpack out of it, the change hidden in the pocket rattled around, but he didn't care. Putting the bag on his bed, he walked over to his dresser and started to pull out some clothes. Unfortunately, not all of his clothes would fit in the bag, plus he had to leave room for other items. Breathing out heavily, he looked at some shirts and decided on just taking four. Folding them up neatly into the bag, Ben went back into his dresser and picked out two pairs of jeans, neatly stuffing them in the bag, Ben zipped up the backpack and walked back to his window.

Looking outside once more, he frowned, second story window, its gonna be a tricky jump but not an impossible one. Reaching up to unlatch the two hooks on his window, he paused when he heard someone knock at his door. Heart racing, Ben quickly stuffed the bag under his bed.

"Benny?" Christopher's voice on the other side of the door. Calming down at the sound of his brothers voice, Ben slowly stalked over to his door and brought his hand up to the smooth wood of the door. Licking his lips, he slowly turned around so his back was against the door. Ben slowly shut his eyes and sighed out. After a couple of seconds, Ben heard four knocks rasp away on the other side. "Benny...Please answer..." Christopher whispered on the other side.

Ben shut his eyes and slowly brought his hand to his head. He...He can't leave Christopher alone with their monster of a dad, but, he couldn't stay here, he just couldn't. If he stayed here he'd start going insane. Biting at his lip, Ben kept his eyes shut and rubbed them with the palm of his hands, thinking desperately on what he was going to do.

"Benny..."

"I'm so sorry..." Ben breathed out to his door, knowing that Christopher didn't hear him. He just couldn't stay here, was it selfish? Yes. Very. But he couldn't live here, he'd rather be free on the streets than locked up and forcefully controlled here. "I'll come back for you, I promise..."

Pulling himself off of the door, Ben never looked back as he put his bag over his shoulder and opened the window. Feeling the could December wind hit his face, he shuddered. He could hear Christopher knocking again on the door, never looking back. Benjamin hoisted himself up until his feet where just on the edge of the windowsill. Looking down once more at the two story jump, he licked his lips nervously, if he aimed this right, he should come out of this unharmed.

Breathing heavily, he steadied himself, licked his lips, shut his eyes, and jumped.

For a short moment, he felt weightless as he felt his body soar through the air. However, he literally came down. He landed on his feet, which might of been good if he hadn't of landed awkwardly on the side of his left foot. He felt pain shoot up through his left ankle as the rest of his body hit the ground. Ben almost screamed out in pain, but forced himself not to, he couldn't get caught. With shaky hands, he slowly pushed himself up.

Whimpering out, Ben rolled over and gently touched his left ankle. Biting his lip, he pulled himself up and tried to put some pressure on his ankle.

"Haaaa..." Ben breathed out in pain, bringing his foot back up. No, he couldn't put weight on it. He won't get far like this, he almost wanted to turn around and limp to the front door, but, he remembered his father, constantly yelling at him, calling him names, and then hitting him. No, he wasn't going to do that. He would have to manage. He started to limp towards his destination, it was definitely going to take him longer to get there than originally planned, and, he would have to stay away from the roads to avoid suspicion, but, maybe, just maybe, he could pull this off.

So, with his mind set, Ben awkwardly limped off towards his destination. Nothing was going to stop him now, not even a broken or sprained ankle.


	12. Chapter 12

Professor Barnabas Greenbloom hummed softly to himself as he lightly tapped some haphazard papers against his desk, straightening them up before putting them away neatly into his desk drawer. He looked at his watch and realized it was almost five o'clock, he really should get home, that is if he wanted a warm dinner when he got there. Grabbing his satchel from behind his rolling chair, the professor only just put it over his shoulder when the door to the classroom slammed opened, causing him to jump.

Turning around to the door he was met with an incoherent babbling Firedrake. The teenager was raving and ranting about something, Barnabas could only make out a few words those being 'Hit', 'bad father', and 'Benjamin'. Standing firm and tall, the professor simple put his hand up silencing Firedrake in mid sentence.

"Freddrick, calm down. Here," Pausing, the professor reached over and rolled his chair over to the teen, who seemed to be on the edge of hyperventilating, "Sit." slapping the back of the rolly chair ushering his student to do as commanded, Firedake did without hesitation. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

Firedrake breathed in and out heavily for a few seconds, finally, the teen swallowed hard and looked up at his teacher.

"Benjamin...I think his father abuses him."

Barnabas was not expecting that, slowly, the adult leaned against his own desk and breathed out.

"That's...A bit of a big accusation, don't you think?"

"It's true! Professor! Please you need to hear me out on this!" Firedrake cried out uncharacteristically, almost about to stand back up. Quickly, Barnabas put his hand on the teen's shoulder and made hand gestures reminding his student to breath.

"Ok, Freddrick tell me why you think Ben is being abused-"

"I don't think! I KNOW!" Firedrake roared loudly, this time standing up so suddenly from the rolly chair so violently that it caused the chair to roll back towards the still opened door. The outburst caused Barnabas to jump and put his hand on his chest in slight fear. Never has Firedrake ever exhibited such a violent behavior before. Realizing that he has scared his only favorite teacher, Firedrake breathed out slowly and then shook his head. "This was a mistake, just forget it, I'll do it myself." Firedrake huffed, he turned and started to walk out, pushing the chair out of his way.

Barnabas quickly shook himself from his bewildered state and ran up to Firedrake, grabbing the teen by the shoulders, quickly spinning him around. He couldn't let Firedrake do anything stupid.

"Stop. Stop! Freddrick, Please, talk to me. What happened? How do you...Know this?" The professor worded carefully, not wanting another violent outburst from the teen. Firedrake's golden eyes hardened for a couple of seconds, before he decided that he was going nowhere without the proper help.

"Ok...Ok," Firedrake breathed out slowly and then gently sat down on the edge of a nearby desk breathing out, Firedrake messed with his index finger for a brief moment before finally speaking.

"I went to go and see him...unannounced, you know just to surprise him. I heard some sort of commotion going on inside...His father seemed to be screaming at him about something, and when Ben to explain himself, and I know that's all he was going to do, and his father hit him!" Firedrake fretted and Barnabas sighed out deeply and ran his hands through his already messy hair.

Nobody said anything for a while after that, the professor was constantly rubbing his hands together, obviously thinking about what he should say or do. Finally, he looked Firedrake dead in the eyes and spoke his next sentence very carefully, hoping that the teen would react well to what he had to say.

"Freddrick, Please, just listen to what I have to say about this. You have no proof of this."

Firedrake did not hesitate to speak up against the professor.

"But, he hit Ben. I heard it! That's gotta count for something!"

Barnabas shook his head in response and sighed out deeply.

"I'm sorry, but, It doesn't. Unless Benjamin has bruises or scars to prove he's been abused, then it's going to just be your word vs. an adult's word and who do you think they are going to believe?" Barnabas asked very seriously, making sure he never broke eye contact with his student on this. Firedrake looked solemn for a few fleeting moments, then, he spoke to his professor.

"Is there anything I can do then?"

Barnabas huffed out deeply and shut his eyes in thought.

"Talk to Ben, maybe you can get him to admit it, but, even with that...I don't know, Freddrick...I really don't." Barnabas gave out one final sigh and then placed a hand on Firedrakes shoulder. "Don't do anything you're going to regret. Just...Think before you act. Please, Just do that."

Firedrake couldn't bring himself to reply to his teacher, instead he stood up and just numbly walked out of the classroom, leaving a very concerned Barnabas Greenbloom behind. The professor slowly sat down on his rolly chair that was still sitting by the door. sighing out heavily he looked up at the ceiling in thought.

Tapping his hands on his knees, he finally got up from his chair and grabbed his briefcase, about ready to just walk out, this wasn't his fight and he shouldn't get involved, he could easily lose his job if Firedrake was wrong. Turning a bit too quickly, his briefcase accidently hit his desk phone, knocking the handset off of the receiver, causing it to make the typical off the hook sound. Turning back around to the phone, Barnabas slowly walked back over to it.

Picking the handset up, Barnabas looked down at the receiver and sighed out.

"Firedrake...I have faith in you..." He breathed out and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he used his free hand to dial a familiar number. Once done, he put the phone up to his ear and waited only three rings before the person picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Vita, Darling. I'm sorry but, I'm going to be late tonight so just put my food in the microwave." He replied to his wife with a heavy sigh.

"Oh, alright, may I ask why? I mean, you never tell me to put your dinner in the microwave before now."

"I'll explain when I get home, I swear, but, long story short..." He paused as he thought of what to say next, what exactly could he say? Finally, he could only say the truth,

"I think I'm putting too much faith in one of my students..."


	13. Chapter 13

Ben rubbed his hands together in both anxiety and coldness. So maybe running away on a twenty degree night wasn't his brightest idea. How did he ever get to seventh grade again? His ankle was throbbing worse and worse with each passing hour, there was actually a moment where he wanted to just turn around and go home, but, no, it was too late now just keep looking forward.

The ten year old could only sigh out deeply as he saw a wooden bench off in the distance, a dim street lamp hanging over the bench, good, a chance to rest his ankle. Walking a tad faster, he practically slammed his body down on the bench. Breathing heavily, he could see his breath clearly in the cold air, Ben shivered and huddled himself in a slight ball to keep warm. He really didn't think this through. He felt beyond stupid, he could hear his dad now,

'You ran away without proper gear and money? God, where did I go wrong with you, Benjamin, we should of sent you back to first grade instead of up to seventh.' Then his father would laugh bitterly in his face, like he always does, then continue to berate and beat him down until Ben was nothing more than a pile, unable to stand up.

Grinding his teeth, Ben brought up his thumb and started to gnaw at the skin on his thumb, just loose little bits that were already peeling off. He kept pulling at the skin with his teeth, feeling the skin peel off with each tug. He then hissed out in pain when he pulled at one that was a bit deep.

"Ow..." He whined softly, looking at his thumb in the less than helpful light, he could see himself start to bleed, but, he could still see that he didn't quite get the skin off either, the loose skin sticking out, he could almost see how deep it was. Breathing in deeply, He slowly used his index finger and his thumb on the other hand to grab it and yank at it. It didn't want to move, and it was hurting a bit more now, the more he tugged, the more it hurt. Exhaling, Ben sucked in some more air and held it as he gave it one big tug, ripping the skin. He gasped and clutched his thumb. Breathing in and out slowly and steadily, he waited for the pain to just turn into a numbing throb, once it was that, he looked at his thumb.

Was he bleeding? Yes, was it bad? No. In fact, the most the blood was doing was welling up, it wasn't even dripping. Bringing the side of his thumb up to his mouth, he sucked the blood off. It left a familiar coppery taste in his mouth, almost like the taste of a penny. Once he let his thumb down, Ben went back to grinding his teeth, that did hurt, but, it did help get his mind off of the cold and his father even if for a few moments.

Getting just a bit comfortable on the bench, Ben sighed out, could he sleep here for the night? He almost wanted to, and probably would have, if it wasn't for the car horn that blasted through the area. Ben almost jumped out of his skin, he turned and frantically looked around, hoping to god that it wasn't his father. When he saw the car, he didn't know if he should feel relaxed that it wasn't his father, or scared that some stranger was honking at him. Getting up from the bench, he was getting ready to make a, be it feeble, attempt to run for it, but, the window on the passenger side rolled down to reveal a familiar face.

"Ben? Is that you!?"

"T-Twigleg?" Ben stuttered, realizing just how cold he now felt. He almost felt relieved, but, then felt scared when he noticed that his new acquaintance was getting out of the car. Ben could literally do nothing but sit there in fear as Twigleg did in fact get out of the car and walked up to him.

Twigleg made his way up to Ben in record time, sitting down next to the ten year old on the bench, Ben flinched when he felt Twigleg's warm hand touch his freezing cheek.

"You're ice! What are you doing out here?! Here," Without another word, Twigleg started shed off his jacket.

"N-No, really, I'm fine. I don't-" Before he could finish his sentence, Twigleg had already had his jacket off and draped it around Ben's shoulders, the boy hated to admit this, but he really was grateful for it.

"Here, come with me, my dad can bring you home-"

"NO!"

Twigleg was taken back by Ben's sudden yell. Almost instantly, Ben felt bad about yelling at Twigleg, all the teen was trying to do was be nice, but still, going home was not an option. Breathing in and out, Ben said the first lie coming to his mind.

"I'm sorry, I mean...No, I just down there," He pointed to some random direction where a couple of houses were, "I can walk, but, thanks." He laughed awkwardly and Twigleg seemed to be chewing on the inside of his cheek, thinking.

"Uh...Alright...hmmm...Well, stay right here, I need to talk to my dad!" Twigleg excitedly said and then jumped up and ran back towards the car. Ben watched Twigleg lean down towards the open window and talk to his father, Ben tried his hardest to get a look at the man, but, the darkness from the outside hid this man's face well. The conversation they had wasn't long, and whatever they seemed to talk about made Twigleg very happy because he came bounding over towards Ben.

"Ok, Hear me out before you make you decision-" Twigleg started, but, Ben cut him off.

"Decision on what?"

"Let me finish, It's cold out, and we really don't live too far from here, It's the weekend, why don't you sleep over at my house?"

Ben felt his mouth open and close frantically, he must of looked like a fish out of water, as he tried to think of what to properly say.

"I...Er...Twig..." Ben said but couldn't form the right sentence, finally he put his hands calmly down on his lap and breathed out slowly, and finally managed to form what he wanted to say,

"We literally just started hanging out...I mean, wouldn't it be a bit awkward?"

Twigleg shrugged and gave Ben a warm smile and in return said, "I don't think it would be, think of it as another way for us to better understand each other!..." Twigleg went quiet when he saw the uneasiness in Ben's face, then, he sat up a bit firmer and tried his hardest to look stern and then spoke up again this time more strict and demanding, what he said and how he said it almost made Ben laugh, "I won't take no for an answer!"

Putting his head in his hand, Ben looked Twigleg up and down and then sighed out.

"Why? I mean, I guess I am touched by the fact that you want me over, but...Why?"

What Twigleg said next, he said it with the most sincere voice, it was almost a comfort to hear.

"Because it's cold out...And I don't want you to freeze tonight."

For the first time that night, Ben smiled, and then he gave his answer to his friend.

"..Ok...I..I see no harm in it."


	14. Chapter 14

'Don't do anything you're going to regret.'

That one sentence kept replaying in Firedrake's mind in an endless loop. The teenager in his car, driving along the road, the radio playing some song, but, Firedrake wasn't listening, he couldn't listen, no, his mind just kept going back to that one sentence. He wasn't even paying attention to where exactly he was going, it wasn't until he realized he was parked outside of Sorrel's house that he tried to put the loop on mute.

Getting out of his truck, Firedrake walked up to his friend's door and knocked on it, he didn't have to wait long before he was suddenly dragged inside of the house.

"Firedrake! What luck! Me and Burr-Burr-Chan just finished making supper!" Sorrel said happily, pulling her friend over to the table and forcing him to sit.

"Thanks, Sorrel, bu-" Firedrake tried to speak against his friend, but was, not at all surprised by getting cut off by her."

"Oh, Firedrake you'll love this! It's a mushroom soup, with all kinds of exotic mushrooms." Sorrel said excitably from the kitchen, Firedrake was about to protest again, but stopped when a little boy came out of the kitchen and sat down right next to the teenager. Firedrake realized that this was Burr-Burr-Chan, from Ben's class, Sorrel was right, his sweater was so big it looked like he could have four arms hidden in those big puffy sleeves.

"You must be Burr-Burr-Chan." Firedrake said looking the kid up and down. Biting at his lip a bit, the silver haired boy asked a question dwelling on his mind. "You're in Ben's class right?"

"You're partner's with him aren't you?" Burr-Burr-Chan answered Firedrake's question with another question. Puffing out a bit at the smart-alecky answer, Firedrake realized that this kid was perfect for Sorrel.

"Ok, good point...What can you tell me about him? I mean do you talk to him at all?"

He got a shrug in response followed by, "No, not really, he's a more 'leave me alone' kind of kid, well, that's the vibe I get from him anyway. I think I tried to talk to him once, but, he just sort of mumbled some lame excuse to leave. If he wants to be alone, then let him."

"I don't think anybody just wants to be alone..." Firedrake responded with a mumble rubbing the back of his head with his hand as he tried to defend his friend.

Burr-Burr Chan shrugged.

"Maybe not, but what was I to do? Chase him down and demand he hangs out with me?"

The kid did have a point and Firedrake could only sigh out. He wanted to ask another question, but, Sorrel came in moments later, three steaming bowls of hot mushroom soup in her arms. Placing one bowl in front Firedrake, another in front of Burr-Burr Chan and then sat down with her own bowl and immediately started to slurp down the soup, Burr-Burr chan followed her lead. Not feeling very hungry, Firedrake just pushed his bowl away and sighed out again. Instantly the slurping on Sorrel's side stopped.

"What's wrong." She asked, now fully concerned. Firedrake shifted his eyes from her, to Burr-Burr Chan, who slowed down his soup eating once the tension started to rise. Getting the hint that her friend didn't want to talk about whatever it was in front of her partner. Sorrel nodded and got up.

"Alright, kitchen it is, C'mon." Again, without hesitation, she grabbed his arm and dragged her friend out of the chair and to the kitchen. Firedrake's eyebrows raised at the state of the kitchen, it was like a tornado ran through the place, mushrooms all over the counters and the floor, cream or broth was all over the counters and dripping all over floor as well.

"Alright, whats going on?"

Firedrake hesitated, rubbing his hands together, he bit at his lip and tried to find the right thing to start off with. Should he tell Sorrel about Ben? Would she react like the professor? Sighing out a slow and steady sigh, he looked at her and finally decided to just tell her the truth. As he told her the story, she said nothing and looked thoughtful, nodding along with him as he explained everything. Finally, when he finished, she frowned with him.

"I mean...It sounded like child abuse, but...Firedrake you don't know the full story, what if Ben was just talking back to him a lot that night? I mean, I'm not saying a kid should get hit, but, get details before you go off crying 'child abuse'" Sorrel told him. Firedrake sighed out and leaned against a counter, he regretted it once he felt something wet smear on his hand, groaning out, he wiped the substance on his jeans and just nodded.

"I guess you're right. I just got so...Hot blooded over it, I refused to think properly." Firedrake admitted, he rubbed the back of his head and Sorrel just gave him a soft smile before giving him a punch to the shoulder.

"Why don't you go and check on Ben? I know it's late-"

Firedrake shook his head.

"Maybe his father isn't abusive, but, he's still an ass, he won't tolerate me showing up in the middle of the night. I'll wait till morning or something...As much as it-"

Firedrake was cut off by his phone ringing idly away in his back pocket. Sorrel just smiled and walked out, leaving Firedrake alone in the messy kitchen. With a sigh, he grabbed his phone and looked at the number, he didn't know it. Still, his gut told him to click on the answer button, so he did.

"Hello?" Firedrake answered a bit weary of whoever was calling him. He relaxed a bit when he heard the familiar voice of the professor.

"Freddrick? It's Barnabas."

"Professor?" Firedrake asked, no confused as to how his teacher got his cell number. His confusion turned to worry at what the professor said next.

"Freddrick, I was just over at Ben's home. He's gone. It seems he ran off..."

That's all it took for Firedrake to high tail it out of Sorrel's, ignoring her call for him to explain what's happening. Getting into his truck, he sped off towards Ben's house.

Now, he was pissed. Enough waiting, it was time for him to talk to Ben's father once and for all.


End file.
